April was a fabulous month! I really, really enjoyed April. I felt really strong and in control. I started working out six times a week (the habit I wanted to change this month!), and it was a successful month of weight loss. Plus, it was just a good month. Nothing terribly exciting happened, just a bunch of little moments that, looking back on, make me smile.
The highlights from April were playing with sting rays at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (and seeing Winter the Dolphin in person!), participating in Amber’s DietBet and completely changing my healthy living mindset, and making my new favorite dish: Loaded Turkey Santa Fe Baked Potato Skins.
The low point of my month was when Dutch wasn’t feeling well. Having a sick pup is so hard, and even though I knew he wasn’t sick sick, just trying to rid his body of something, it was still a little nerve-wracking. Thankfully, he is all better and back to his old self.
The best thing I spent money on this month was a new pair of dress pants from Loft! They fit me like a glove, are the perfect size length-wise, and I feel really good in them. That’s always nice!
In April, I wrote about the different ways I feel like an adult and the different ways I still feel like a kid, and things I always do, sometimes do, and never do. This month, I also started writing weekly updates on my attempts with losing weight and eating healthily.
The progress I made toward my obsessive goal (losing 50 lbs!) was losing 6 lbs! I am hoping I can bring this momentum into May because April was a terrific month for weight loss and healthy living.
A habit I would like to change in May is getting to bed earlier. I’ve fallen into a pattern of staying up until 10:00 (I know, I’m such a wild party animal), and I really want to get back to my 9pm bedtimes. That means I need to close my laptop, turn off the TV, and be preparing for bed by 8pm so I can have time to read and slowly unwind before turning out the lights. I was doing really awesome with this before, but have fallen out of the habit.
I am looking forward to May because IT’S CRUISE MONTH! Five days, five days, five days! I can’t wait!
1. Get to a healthy BMI and lose at least 40 lbs.
So far in 2014, I’ve lost a little over 8 lbs. I need to lose around 4 lbs a month to meet this goal. Still doable!
2. Pay off my credit cards, start an emergency fund (have at least $1,500 saved), and pay off one school loan.
Credit cards are paid off; the emergency fund is at $360. My upcoming cruise has stalled some money-saving attempts, but I am hoping to add at least $400 to my savings account in May.
3. Read 75 books, including 10 off this list.
I read 8 books in March, putting me at 27 books read this year, and around 3 books ahead of schedule. Wahoo!
4. Get a tattoo.
No progress made yet.
5. Travel to Miami to attend a Miami Dolphins game.
No progress made yet. Waiting for tickets to go on sale! (But the schedule was released so I have a few games on my radar that would be fun to be in attendance for.)
What was the highlight of your April? What was the best thing you bought last month?
April WAS a great month for you!
I’ve really enjoyed the giveaways I’ve done on my blog in April, but the highlight of my month was two things. 1. Meeting Glennon (she is just as fabulous in real life as she is on her blog/in her book), and 2. National Infertility Awareness Week. I’m really proud of the interviews I did, the links I shared of different things, and even just talking about it to make people more aware of this disease. Advocacy Day is next week and while I’m nervous I’m also anticipating it to see what it brings!
April was a crazy but wonderful month for me. I was just thinking yesterday how I was writing my ‘year in Charlotte’ post and feeling so anxious I wouldn’t find a job, and now I have a job and an apartment and movers and a trip planned home! It’s just nuts but amazing! April was also exhausting for me, though. So much stress and such a crazy schedule and my body isn’t quite letting me relax yet as I am not sleeping well but hopefully in May I will start to sleep better/more hours because now is the time for me to be sleeping in!
Let’s see, best thing I bought this month is a toss up. It has been an expensive month as I needed to buy new road shoes because my old ones were too worn out/dangerous to run in, and then I also bought trail shoes as I will start to train for my trail half soon, so those were both great purchases. But another expensive but exciting/meaningful purchase was buying my mom’s plane ticket out here so she could do the drive back with me!
Ahhh I am loving all these positive April vibes! It was a fantastic month for me as well. Highlights for me: running my third half marathon only two weeks after my second and having a BLAST the entire time, doing a 5k with my dad (his first!) this past weekend, and SPRING! I am so happy to see buds on the trees and flowers blooming! The best thing I bought? Hmm. I didn’t spend too much but I did find a great sale at Old Navy and stocked up on some stuff for my cruise.
I am sticking with the weight loss efforts once the Diet Bet is over, maybe just not as strict as I find it really hard to stick to 1200 calories some days. You can totally do 4lbs a month!! I’m really excited Amber is doing another one starting mid-June. I don’t think I will lose as fast now that I’m getting closer to my goal, plus I start marathon training in June and I have a feeling that’s going to be difficult to do while trying to lose weight.
I’m excited for your cruise because it means mine is right around the corner! 🙂
So much progress made for you this past month 🙂
The best thing I bought this last month was our new bed. It’s like sleeping on a cloud. I love it. Highlight of my month has probably been hanging out at home on the weekends, while D smokes some yummy meat and I get to read my tons of magazines and get things done around the house. It’s so fun! (And yup, that makes me an old person cause it’s staying in, not going out!)
I’m hosting a SUMMER Shape-up challenge starting June 16, so I hope you join that DietBet too! I’ve loved hosting this DietBet. It has been so fun and also motivating for me to interact with everyone on the Facebook group and on the DietBet page!
PS: I know I’ve said it a million times already but I highly recommend the Nhershoes shred to keep your inspiration up in May! I know you’re gone the first week but the last time I did it lots of people jumped on after the first week and then just tacked that first week onto the end. Plus it also has a motivational facebook group which was my favourite part (and what motivated me to start one for the DietBet!)
You made a lot of progress this month! That’s wonderful.
I hear you about the bedtime. I try to be in bed with lights out at 10 p.m. but haven’t been able to do this lately. I pay for it in the morning when the alarm goes off. HMPF.
Sounds like you rocked April! I’m sure May will be even better for you since the months starts out with your cruise. 🙂
Good job on the weight loss goal! 🙂 Looks like it really was a great month for you. April was pretty up & down for me, but it was the month my niece was born, which is pretty great!